Six Years Later
by laughinghyena2000
Summary: Post DH spoilers. Harry and Ginny's wedding serves as a back drop to catch up with some characters. HG, RHr. Please R and R, thanks!


Six Years Later

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Sad really.

Note: 'Pologize for any bad grammer. This was an idea in my head that just needed to get out. Tho I'm almost certain by now fan fiction of post DH weddings are all over the place.

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and Mrs. Weasley was whistling. All signs pointed to 'good.' Today might just turn out to be a good day, Harry thought. To his left, Ron was hurriedly finishing up his breakfast. In between bites, he would steal glances at his whistling mother as she flipped though recipe books. The expectation of imminent doom was written all over Ron's face and Harry understood completely. Any moment now…

"Boys," Mrs. Weasley said. "Would you mind very much…"

But just before she could finish her sentence, Ron exclaimed, "Oh don't we have to drop by George's today _Harry_?" He glared at Harry, willing him to contradict his statement. _Play along_, Ron's too chirpy to be real smile said to Harry.

"Yes, yes. He… uh… mentioned… uh…" Harry stole another glance at Ron, hoping for some inspiration. "Merchandise. He wanted to show us some new merchandise."

"Oh well," Mrs. Weasley said, barely looking up from her recipe books. "I'll just get Ginny to do it then."

She was obviously too distracted to notice the matching grins on their faces. Escape, Harry thought all too happily. Finally. He knew Ginny would not mind. In fact, he was slightly beyond certain Ginny would not mind. Despite all previous assurances, Ginny had slowly morphed into Mrs. Weasley as the day of the wedding approached. Suddenly, there was no detail too small to worry about.

As a result, the men of the house were not only subjected to Mrs. Weasley's orders, they were now also considered fair play to run Ginny's errands. Even mild mannered, patient Mr. Weasley had taken to leaving for work every morning at the crack of dawn. "Honestly," he had confessed to Harry one day, out of Ginny and Mrs. Weasley's earshot, "there's not much for me to do now with Percy helping out. He likes finishing the reports. Still, sanity."

Harry and Ron more than understood. As far as they were concerned, Mr. Weasley needed no justification for his actions. In fact, they would be more than willing to head up to the Ministry at the crack of down to file paperwork too. If it weren't for Kingsley.

"Go. Take the week off," Kingsley had told Harry last Friday. Of course, Harry had protested. The department. The work. They were steadily revamping the Auror Department and had been seeing good results recently. Surely, Harry had argued, the next week would be just as important as the rest.

"C'mon Harry, take your leave," Ron had interjected during Harry's argument. Ron, Harry noticed, had a grin that curved up one side of his face and a glint in his eye as he raised his eyebrows. "We can manage without you for a week."

"Yes, Harry. Indeed. And I was also thinking Ron," Kingsley continued, which was when Ron lost the glint in his eye. "You have been working very hard too. You should take the week off. I insist."

With that, Kingsley had shooed Harry and Ron out of his office with what Harry could only describe as a very evil grin.

"But who will run the department. It needs us!" Ron shouted to the closed door.

"Oh, I'm sure the department can manage without us for a week," Harry said as he walked off. Slightly pleased with Ron's red faced glare.

George Weasley barely blinked when Harry and Ron Apparated before him. The two, however, did manage to give a young customer the shock of his life. As Harry took in the many exploding, smoking, flying objects around him, he could not help but notice that the shop seemed bigger since the last time he had been in it. Ron had mentioned that his recent investment in the business had had a very lucrative return. Business, Harry realized, was going well.

"So, didn't last too long now did you?" George grinned as he shouted into the stock room at the back. "Oi! Janey, c'mere. You lost."

"Men. Such weaklings. Look what you did," Janey said to Ron and Harry as she emerged from the back. She half heatedly handed George a few coins, and continued, "I had such faith that you two would last a little longer. Faith, and see where that got me."

Not only had the shop gotten bigger, Harry thought. So had Janey.

"You're huge," Ron exclaimed.

"Thanks Ron. That makes me feel tons better about this," she replied good humouredly as she rubbed her bulging belly.

"Don't you dare insult my wife, little brother," George replied.

Janey, with her long blond hair and captivating blue eyes was more than a suitable match for George. She had the wit and good humor to put up with the wily Weasley. More importantly, she was the first person to make George really smile again after Fred's death.

Harry remembered that dinner, barely three months after the battle at Hogwarts. Life was regaining some semblance of normalcy, thought Harry could not be sure if he ever really had 'normal.' Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley's were at the Burrow, eating. Just eating. All of a sudden George, who had been unusually subdued since Fred's funeral, just upped and left.

Later, they learned that he had been overcome with a sudden sense of missing Fred. That the dinner had been too quiet. Too normal. That he had wanted to crack a joke with Fred to break the silence, for a moment forgetting that Fred was not at the dining table. And when he realized his mistake seconds later, he felt the walls of the Burrow closing in around him. So he left and headed for the nearby Muggle village. He hit the places Fred and him used to visit and chanced upon this Muggle girl they had once performed magic for. Somehow, this stranger had sensed his sadness. And somehow when he returned much later in the night, he wore a smile on his face.

Her name was Janey, he had told the family weeks after the dinner. As George and Janey became closer friends, he slowly started introducing her to the wizarding world. The initial introduction was hard ("Can you imagine how completely bonkers Dad got?" Ron had remarked later. "Christmas came early for him. Must'a scared her to death.") but after awhile, no one could deny the fact that those two had something special.

"You know this is really all your fault," Harry said to George. "This whole insanity of a wedding. If you hadn't done it, she wouldn't be so completely nuts about making our wedding perfect."

The 'it' that went unmentioned was George and Janey's sudden elopement ten months ago. In Las Vegas. In the Elvis Presley chapel. Needless to say, when the happy couple delivered the news, Mrs. Weasley's face had taken an alarming shade of red. The resulting Howler, which Harry and Ron were unfortunate enough to witness, was loud enough to shatter glasses in the shop, which then led to a series of events that resulted in the greatest fireworks display the customers of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes had ever seen.

As far as the rest of the family was concerned, it was a wedding that suitably fitted George's personality. Mr. Weasley, in fact, was secretly beside himself when George presented him with a recording ("Vee-deo!") of not only the wedding, but also an Elvis impersonator gyrating his hips wildly. Of course, Mrs. Weasley was never made aware of the recording's existence.

"So where's Hermione?" George replied, changing the subject while unconsciously touching his one remaining ear. He was still amazed that the Howler had not permanently damaged his hearing.

"Working," Ron replied with a sigh. "Gotta rework all those laws and loopholes or something. House elves stew… I mean, SPEW."

Harry watched as Ron suddenly busied himself with some assorted candy on the counter, whilst trying to pretend that he was ignorant about Hermione's work. But Harry knew the truth and had been sworn to secrecy. ("Look, if George finds out he'll think I've start turning into Percy. I'll never hear the end of it.") Ron, Harry knew, had been reading up on equality laws as he tried to help Hermione draft a new set of laws for the Ministry. Ron, during his spare time, had even started researching the history of house elves, much to Harry and Hermione's amusement.

"He's complete rubbish," Hermione had confessed to Harry one day. But he knew, from the smile she wore, Hermione completely appreciated his efforts.

"Oh yeah!" Ron exclaimed, jerking Harry back from his thoughts. "I have to, well, yeah… See you back at the Burrow Harry!"

"Wonder what's he up to," George said as Ron sprinted out of the shop.

The wedding had gone off without a single problem. Hagrid had even managed to avoid breaking any chairs. Well, one flower pot. But as Ginny observed, the pot had been so ugly it looked much better broken. As Harry took in the elaborate decorations all around the Weasleys' yard, Harry could not help but feel intensely grateful for Mrs. Weasley's intensive wedding planning. The last six days had been a test of patience, but in the end, Harry thought, it was well worth it.

Now here he was, doing what he had been dreaming off since he was seventeen. He was taking his first dance with Ginny as husband and wife. His head rested on her hair, soft and familiar, his arms wrapped her around her waist. His wife. He could feel Ginny shift her head against his chest, and he marveled at the thought once more. Ginny was his wife.

When he had asked Ron to be his best man, Ron had muttered, "but not for long." At first Harry did not understand. A small part of him had even wondered if Ron was implying that he was unfit to wed Ginny. But earlier today, as he saw Ginny walk down the aisle in Mr. Weasley's arms, resplendent in Mrs. Weasley's old wedding gown, he finally understood what Ron meant.

Times were changing. Ron would always be his best friend, always by his side. So would Hermione. But the days of the Trio were over. Ron had acknowledged that far earlier than he. Right now, this moment, as Ginny and Harry swayed to the soft melodies, marked a new beginning. They were all growing up.

As he looked around him, circling Ginny on the dance floor, Harry noticed that there was a mini Hogwarts gathering taking place. Luna was talking to Neville, about, well just about anything, knowing Luna. And there was Seamus, and Katie. And Hannah and Oliver. There they were, his past catching up on his wedding day. And as packed as the yard was, Harry could not help but notice a great emptiness. Those gone. What would Tonks say, of course she would be dancing with Lupin, her hair probably a shade of pink. And Sirius would be laughing. What would his parents think of Ginny? Dumbledore…

Maybe, Harry thought, that's why George went to Las Vegas. Sometimes the emptiness overcomes what should be a glorious day.

Not today though. Times were changing and Harry realized that now. Things were moving ahead. Although nothing could fill up the gaps in his heart of those gone, he knew that new experiences would help him heal. He had his own family now, a family to call his own.

Suddenly Harry looked up. Ginny had stopped dancing too.

"YES!! YES!!"

Someone was yelling. And then he saw it. Hermione, with the biggest smile on her face. Ron, with one knee on the ground wearing, wearing an expression of surprise.

"Yes? I mean… YES!!!!" This time it was Ron who shouted. His eyes scanned the crowd, looking for Harry's. "I know it's your day, but mate I'm ENGAGED!!"

Today, Harry thought, was perfect. Just as he was about to continue dancing, he heard Ron exclaimed, "Nobody move! Stop! I dropped the ring!" Times were changing, but some things stayed the same.


End file.
